Spokespersons for the central Iraqi and Kurdish Regional
governments exchanged accusations that the other government is reinforcing
troops in a disputed area of northern Iraq. A spokesman for the Peshmerga
Ministry said
that the central government was giving their Arab counterparts updated weaponry
and considered that an "act of war." The Iraqi government made
similar accusations and further complained
over the "nature of statements" made by the Kurds. The Peshmerga are
former Kurdish fighters now entrusted with security concerns in Kurdish regions
in and outside official Kurdistan.

The current standoff began when Baghdad established a new
operation command to cover Kirkuk, Salah ad Din and Diyala provinces. Dijla
(Tigris) Operations Command took
over Camp Ashraf, the former site of a Mujahedeen al-Khalq (M.E.K.) refugee
camp, in September and was to have been staffed with Interior Ministry
personnel. From the beginning, the Kurds protested the new command as an unnecessary
intrusion. In mid-November, tensions escalated when clashes broke
out at a politician’s home in Tuz Khormato. Since then, troops from both
sides have been stationed at key points separating Kurdish areas from Arab
ones.

Meanwhile, one Iraqi was killed and four more were
wounded in new attacks.